Coming of Age
' |image= |series= |production=40271-119 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Sandy Fries |group="N"}} |director=Michael Vejar |imdbref=tt0708690 |guests=Ward Costello as Adm. Gregory Quinn, Robert Schenkkan as Lt. Cdr. Dexter Remmick, John Putch as Mordock, Robert Ito as Lt. Chang, Stephen Gregory as Jake Kurland, Tasia Valenza as T'Shanik, Estee Chandler as Oliana Mirren, Brendan McKane as Technician No. 1, Wyatt Knight as Technician No. 2, Daniel Riordan as Rondon |previous_production=When the Bough Breaks |next_production=Heart of Glory |episode=TNG A18 |airdate=12 March 1988 |previous_release=Home Soil |next_release=Heart of Glory |story_date(s)=Stardate 41416.2 |previous_story=When the Bough Breaks |next_story=Heart of Glory }} =Summary= Captain Picard greets his friend Admiral Gregory Quinn and his assistant Lt. Commander Dexter Remmick aboard the Enterprise. For classified reasons, Quinn has ordered Remmick to perform an investigation of the Enterprise and its crew and expects Picard to fully co-operate. Remmick's query causes tension in the crew, particularly when he questions the trustworthiness of the senior staff based on their personal logs and past actions. A young cadet, having failed the Starfleet Academy entrance examination, attempts to run away in a shuttlecraft but ends up drifting. Picard is able to direct the cadet to pilot the shuttle away from a planet by bouncing off the atmosphere. The investigation is completed, and Remmick informs both Picard and Quinn that there is no sign of wrongdoing, and expresses his interest in joining its crew in the future. Quinn tells Picard that he feels there is an unknown force that has infiltrated Starfleet, and he was seeking to assure himself of his trust in Picard and the Enterprise crew. To help combat this threat, Quinn offers Picard a promotion to Admiral and a job overseeing Starfleet Academy which would place Picard near Quinn at all times. Picard mulls the offer for some time, but eventually declines. Meanwhile, Wesley Crusher prepares to take the Academy entrance exam himself. He succeeds in passing several parts of the exam, and helps Mordock, a highly talented Benzite and fellow competitor, to solve a difficult test problem so that they may both advance. Wesley is worried about the psychological part of the exam, and he is directed to a room to wait for the test to start. While waiting, he hears an explosion nearby, and leaves the room to investigate. He finds two men trapped by fallen components in a fire-engulfed room. Wesley helps to release one man wounded under a heavy pipe, and tries to coax the other man to leave the burning room, but the man refuses. Wesley is forced to leave the scared man inside and drags the other man to safety. Outside the room, he soon realizes this was the psychological test. Eventually, the cadets are told of the results, and Mordock is granted admission into Starfleet Academy, while Wesley is encouraged to try again next year. Mordock thanks Wesley for his help and wishes him future success. After Wesley returns to the Enterprise, Picard confides in him that he also failed the examination the first time. =Errors and Explanations= Internet Movie Database Plot holes # When Remick asks Data if is programmed to tell the whole truth Data says, "Yes." This would be untrue. First he is seen over and over to not only withhold information but from time to time has been seen to lie. Secondly, a being incapable of withholding information would be unsuitable in any kind of military organization as they could never be trusted with sensitive information. Data could be misleading Remmick, in order to ensure the investigator accepts Data's testimony.'''IMDB entry tt0708690 Plot Oversights # At one point, Jake Kurland steals a shuttle, attempting to run away from home. Evidently the young man is terribly nervous because - shortly after he is described as skilled in shuttle operation - he unbalances the shuttle engines. '''His expertise may have been limited to the theoretical aspects. # Does it seem realistic that Wesley doesn't make it into the academy? He’s already an acting ensign. Both his parents were officers. He has saved the ship several times. l’m sure Picard would give him a good letter of recommendation. Are the entrance requirements really this stringent? In Legacy, lshara Yar pretends that she has an interest in joining Startleet. Both Worf and Data encourage her to do so. Yet this woman has grown up on a colony run by gangs. Doesn't it seem likely that the academy would stress the necessity of a high-quality education? Ishara grew up in the same enviorment as Tasha, and possess many of the same skills and attributes. Changed Premises # A few shows later we will discover that Quinn was not imagining a crisis brewing in Startleet. ln fact, some beetlelike aliens are systematically seizing control of key members of the admiralty. The episode Conspiracy reveals this and another interesting fact: The mother creature controlling the beetles lives in Remmick! Presumably it‘s already in him during this episode. Quinn is already saying that something is amiss. It the aliens want to take over Startleet, wouldn't this be the most opportune time to plant a few beetles in the bridge crew of the Enterprise’? After all, Remmick has had a chance to be alone with all of them. For some reason, Remmick fails to take advantage of the situation. The creatures may not have been able to take control of Quinn and Remmick until after the events of this episode. Equipment Oddities # Near the end of the episode, Remmick reports his findings to Quinn. He comes to Quinn's quarters and sits in a chair directly in front of Quinn's desk. Evidently, the user interface for raising and lowering chairs won‘t change much in the next 350 years because Remmick’s chair has a little lever that sticks out to the side underneath the seat cushion, just like the one on my office chair! If it works, don't change it!. Nit Central # Mark Swinton on Thursday, October 28, 1999 - 3:59 pm: A scene in during Remmick's interrogations (which were all brilliantly done, I must say) made me sit up and think "Nit nit nit nit nit!" When interviewing Picard, he says "You violated the Prime Directive of the Edo" referring to that silly pointless episode "Justice". Wait a minute! The Edo had no Prime Directive, it was the Federation Prime Directive that was compromised in that episode. Remmick may have been referring to the Edo's use of the death penalty, without exceptions, for any criminal act. # Ryan on Friday, July 20, 2001 - 9:48 pm: True, the spying thing could have gotten the Federation through first contact and through subsequent dimplomatic affairs. But would a person so infuriated by courtesy really join the benevolent and courteous Federation? In just one episode we see countless acts of courtesy on the Enterprise, I would assume most other starships have similar behaviours. If you loathed courtesy, would you join into this kind of organization? More to the point, would a race that prided itself on honesty want to join an organisation dishonest enough to spy on the population before revealing themselves! =Notes= =Sources= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation